brian0123

When I lookup 610 Gray on street view it shows me the Starbucks building. I wonder if this is just an old rendering of the Starbucks building that they are trying to lease out?

Thanks!

Finally made it over to the lot and put a pic of the Magnificat rendering on my new blog: Rendering I actually like the look of it a lot. It would be nice if a multi-story had made it to Elgin... but this looks fairly decent at least.

The owner of Pub Fiction brought renderings of the building to a Midtown Planning meeting awhile back. If plans haven't changed since then... the building is going to be awesome w/ a nice entrance on the corner w/ columns. It will be multi story (I think 2 or 3) with a roof bar thing w/ parking in the back. It will be built to the sidewalk (I think he's going to even widen the sidewalk some and add lighting) so it will fit in perfectly with the neighborhood.

My Google alert recently sent me info about a new club opening next to Ruby Tequila's called Bar Munich. I think it's supposed to be more of a sports bar though.

I noticed this too, but I think it will be good for the area. It looks like a nice office/admin building. They've owned the land forever, and considering they own almost every house on the street across from the White House already (used for housing even, not an office/admin), I don't see why it would have any impact on the project. They also own the most incredible old white house mansion one block down as well. Last I heard (when eating at Hearsay) is that the project is just slower because they are figuring out a way to do construction on the White House w/out tearing up the historical insides too much.

Not sure why everyone freaks out about "big gubmant" cameras in public spaces. London has them everywhere and it never bothered me. It actually made me feel happy knowing that if I were mugged, they'd have a nice clear picture of the assailant. I think this program is excellent news and I'd love to see it expanded into my neighborhood. Why should we pay a ton of $$ for extra police to randomly patrol streets when we can have an entire area monitored by less staff... and dispatch officers to crimes in progress?

You sure know how to cheer me up in the morning! The article sounds like it opened last Tuesday... but I've still seen buses operating out of both the Greyhound and Americanos terminals in Midtown. Anyone else have info on this? This would be HUGE for the area.

I had no clue that the lot between it and the park is separately-owned. I thought they had the entire block. It makes sense why they did what they did if that's the case.

Google alerts just sent me this blog post with interior pictures and more info about this property... http://bambooleasing.com/blog/11/2010/midtown-has-new-address Looks pretty nice.

Yes, Piola is a pizza place in the Mix where the pizza is Italian style... not NYC or Chicago style. I was there last night and the food is good.

Has Embassy Suites commented on why the building faces away from the park? Isn't that really ugly electrical substation on the side that it now faces? I'd love to hear why they decided to point it towards a block full of electrical equipment instead of a park.

Anyone know what's going in next to Crave Sushi? There is a ton of construction going on. Is it the Greek restaurant mentioned earlier in this thread?

I might be your neighbor (I live on Anita) and have used them occasionally. I haven't seen anyone smoking crack on them, but if you smell and see anyone suspicious on them, call our constables or HPD right away. It won't take them long to figure out that if they "smoke" on our street, they will be going to jail quickly. HPD arrested a guy in front of my house the other night (had been pulled over in his car) for crack and a crack pipe... so they are very responsive and ready to arrest.

I could not agree more. I moved away from Washington Ave. as soon as I saw the dbags coming. Houston must not have been hot back then. Seriously, it drives me nuts when I hear people complain about walking more than a couple blocks because of the heat. Look at the waistlines of the people in those pictures. Since those pictures were taken, Houston has doubled in size around our own beltways.

My dream is for them to gut the place and move the Angelika into it. One can dream... right?

Went to Natachee's last night and really enjoyed it. I had the bacon burger and fries, and also tried the Sliders and baked mac n' cheese (incredible). Lacy was there and trotted over when we came out. The owner is a really nice guy who said he plans to eventually setup the outdoor area for live music w/ a stage and hanging out. I'm bringing the coworkers by for lunch today. They also told me that more things will be added to the menu soon (as mentioned above) like Chicken N' Dumplings and breakfast items to be served all day.

That's the right location. From what I remember in the Chronicle article from awhile back... the garage will be built on the empty lot across from Christian's Tailgate. The building itself is that rectangular two story one in the middle of your link. The White House that is mentioned is here: http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=nypxrg71jy99&scene=32457314&lvl=2&sty=b I don't know of any renderings because it's just a rehab of an existing building. It's the building in the middle of this view: http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=nypt9n71jhsf&scene=32460678&lvl=2&sty=b The horse was grazing on the lot to the right of it. The storefronts reminded me of Guadalupe St in Austin.

They must have updated the article because it says mid-November ground breaking. I had no clue they were going to add an extra floor to the building... that will be awesome. As for the White House mentioned in the article... still no activity at the building from what I've seen. On a side note, I was at Tacos a Go Go last night and noticed that the Supper N Punch (and other shops about to open) are coming along nicely. They had a live horse grazing on the lot next door wearing a sign that just said "Opening October 1". It was hilarious to see a horse grazing in Midtown.

What are you talking about?!?! Why was I able to refinance last month (after living in my home for two years) and my appraisal came in 7.4% higher? My home value has increased 16k in two years and the comps were all very recent. Homes were option pending about a month ago. Just because there aren't any right now doesn't mean the end of the world (we are still in a recession).

Yeah, you should try it again. Restaurant.com sells give certs to Hearsay. When the site runs a special, you can enter a promo code and get a $25 gift cert for $2 (have to spend $35 and excludes alcohol). My wife and I have used it at Hearsay w/out a problem (just tell the waitress ahead of time). As for Nouveau Antique Art Bar in Midtown... yeah, that place is awesome. It's four blocks from my house so I end up spending way too much money there.

Oops, sorry... I meant State Bar.http://www.thestatebar.com/

Union Bar is really chill and quiet (the Houston Symphony hangs out there sometimes) but dress in business casual for the place. Drinks are decently priced, but you HAVE to go at night and hang out on their awesome deck that overlooks the street below for good people watching. Brewery Tap is casual and quiet... and sometimes ghost hunters come in the bar with rods and blinking lights trying to find ghosts (which is always entertaining to watch). If you like cocktails you should check out Hearsay (good food for dinner as well). I live in Midtown and hang out there a lot... but Downtown is always a fun place too.

The reason I go to Downtown is because of chill bars. How about Union Bar, Deans, La Carafe, Warren's, The Brewery Tap, Flying Saucer, Molly's, Shay McElroy's... etc?

I agree with everyone else that it must have been an off night. My band plays at Dean's often and there always seems to be a decent crowd on Fridays/Saturdays (we play this Thursday... so I'll see how it is on a Thursday night). I hang out a lot downtown (Flying Saucer, Hearsay, The Pavilions, area around Franks and Union Bar, etc.) and a lot in Midtown and always see a lot of people. I don't understand why people like to say Downtown/Midtown are "dead". My guess is some of them either have a vested interest in promoting Washington Avenue... or they just don't get out enough.